West Allotment Celtic 'on the brink' as plea issued by Northern League club

West Allotment Celtic have issued a plea for investment and support as the Northern League Division One club confirmed they are ‘on the brink of folding’. The loss of main sponsors Wade Financial delivered a severe blow to Allotment’s finances and only added to several issues already being experienced by the North Tyneside club.

Just over a year after securing a fifth place finish in the Northern League’s top tier, Allotment have now revealed a lack of sponsors, interest from the local community and new volunteers has led them to consider their future. A written request to postpone their fixtures over the next two weeks has been submitted to the Northern League, meaning Saturday’s visit to Division One leaders Redcar Athletic is unlikely to go ahead.

The news comes just seven years after Allotment faced major uncertainty over their long-term future after a major dispute with the Northumberland FA and a rent increase at Whitley Park forced them to seek a new ‘home’ ground at Druid Park in Woolsington, some 13 miles from their home village.

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A new ‘home’ was found with a ground-share agreement with Forest Hall in 2020 - but poor attendances and a struggle to find new volunteers has left the club to consider all options over their future.

Club chairman David Dodds told Chronicle Live: “We are on the brink and because we have no home ground of our own, it is really starting to hit us hard. We’ve had seven different grounds over the years and it’s hard to develop a club in the way we would like without a permanent home of our own.

“People in Forest Hall just haven’t got behind us, despite our best efforts and we need a pause to consider what lies ahead. Losing our main sponsors when they got sold after supporting the club for ten years was a major blow. We looked to make the club sustainable this season by bringing the food in and getting the bar going - but everyone is seeing our crowds drop and we just aren’t getting enough through the door.

“We had 56 paying supporters through the door against Northallerton on Tuesday night and you can work that out, it’s just not going to cover costs across the club. I think a lot of clubs will find themselves in a similar situation.

“We have an older committee, there is John Alexander, our treasurer, is retiring after 50 years at the club next year and our secretary, Ted Ilderton, has given similar service and he will be retiring as well.

“We have been trying to get additional support on the committee for years and that’s not happened so the responsible thing to do is to have this two-week period to see if any sponsors and volunteers come forward to help us.”

Dodds has stressed the club’s name will be carried on a their junior section continues to go from strength-to-strength and their Ladies team, who compete in the Northumberland Football League Women’s Premiership. The Allotment chairman insisted there would never be any consideration to taking funds from either part of the club to boost the Northern League side and believes their plight is a further sign of the struggles many in the non-league game are experiencing.

“The club’s name will go on because the juniors are self-sufficient and the women’s team are self-funding,” he explained. “As a club, we would not take money from the juniors because they are a charity and it’s not right for clubs to do so.

“This is the state of non-league football and where the game is at at our level now. We are four years away from our centenary - but we are facing some very difficult decisions if nobody comes forward to get involved.

“It’s going to take some younger people, some new blood with new ideas and the ability to raise money through businesses they own or know to make this club sustainable. If we do survive, we will need the local community to rally behind us to ensure the club is here for years to come."